


People Like Us

by StereoChromatic



Category: Peanuts
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, RACISTS CAN GTFO, References to racism, Worry, references to police brutality, standing up for each other, topical issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StereoChromatic/pseuds/StereoChromatic
Summary: Worried about his dad, Franklin rings up Charlie Brown in the middle of the night, to talk through what's bothering him, and the current goings on in nearby Minneapolis.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	People Like Us

Charlie Brown was sleeping in his bed late at night, tossing and turning, as he had any other night. 

*BRRINGG* *BRRINGG* 

Charlie Brown awoke suddenly to the sound of his telephone ringing. Gingerly, he turned his bedside light on and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Thank goodness, Charlie Brown.” 

“Franklin? Is that you?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Yes. It’s me. How are you?” Franklin replied.

“I’m okay, I guess.” Charlie Brown answered. “I’m a bit tired though. What time is it?”

“11. I’m sorry if I woke you up.” Franklin apologised.

“I’m sure you have a good reason.” Charlie Brown gave a friendly smile, not that Franklin could see. 

“Yeah well, about that.” Franklin’s tone changed. “Have you been watching the news recently?”

“Yeah, I saw. Floyd George, or was it George Floyd? I get mixed up sometimes. It must be scary, seeing someone die like that.” Charlie Brown answered to the best of his ability.

“George Floyd. I know there’s a first-name Floyd in your neighbourhood, so I won’t fault you for that.” Franklin eased up a little bit. "And Yeah, it is scary."

“You want to talk to me about it?” Charlie Brown asked, finding a chair to sit down on.

“I just want to chat. I can’t sleep.” Franklin worried.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie Brown asked, sensing something else was amiss.

“Dad hasn’t come home yet. I’m worried he might get caught up in the protests in town.”

“There’s protests?” Charlie Brown responded. “I hadn’t heard about that.”

“They sprung up in the past couple of hours or so. Dad was supposed to be home at 8. I’m worried the police might mistake him for someone else.”

Charlie Brown imagined the possibilities. “That could be bad.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Franklin replied. “I’m worried he could get hurt.”

“Would it help if we looked... no that’s a stupid idea. Ignore me.”

“I thought about doing that, but I checked the news again. It’s really not safe for us kids to be outside at the moment.” Franklin added grimly.

“Uh-huh. Is your mom home?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Yeah. She hasn’t had any sleep either. We’re both waiting until dad comes home.”

“Is there anyone we could call on to help? I know if my dad was missing, I’d get help from an officer or someone, but I guess that doesn’t work for you.” Charlie Brown. 

“You’re right. It doesn’t. Mom keeps trying to ring Dad from her mobile, but she hasn’t got through yet. Dad has a habit of keeping his phone off when he’s driving home, so I shouldn’t panic, but it’s just,” he sighed, “tonight.” 

“I see what you mean.” Charlie Brown replied.

“Dad makes a point of being punctual so we don’t worry about him, but obviously, we do worry. We’ve seen stories of what happens to people like us that have broken taillights or some other petty thing the police can get you on.”

“That was the first one I heard about.” Charlie Brown piped up. “Although I was probably too young to remember seeing it when it happened.”

“It was four years ago. I’d be too small to remember it as it happened, but my parents talked about it a lot.”

“As they should, that was real close to us, too.” Charlie Brown replied. 

“Did you know about any of the older ones, you know, like LA ’92?”

“No, we haven’t been taught about that in school. We know about Martin Luther King, and I have a dream, and that’s about it.” Charlie Brown recalled. “3rd Grade History doesn’t really cover race relations. I'll have to look it up later.”

“That’s a rather professional way of putting it. Franklin eased slightly again, happy to hear Charlie Brown was more aware of his surroundings than he expected. 

“Can I ask you something?” Charlie Brown posed a question.

“Sure.” Franklin waited.

“What do you make of the protests?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I feel the same anger as they do, but I don’t think it serves any purpose for me to be out with them. I’m just a kid after all. I’ll be sure to let dad know about it when, hopefully, he returns.” Franklin explained. “Do you feel the same?”

“I asked because I don’t know. I know I’m not likely to face the same, er, I’ll rephrase, i’d get treated more favourably by law enforcement if I disagreed with them, and I’d want the same to be true of you, but I know that isn’t the case at the moment. At school, Martin Luther King taught us that peaceful protest could achieve equality through non-violence. Is that’s what’s going on out there?”

“Sadly, no. There is some violence going on. That’s why it’s not safe.” Franklin replied solemnly.

“Why would they do that?” Charlie Brown asked.

“There’s probably a long and complicated answer for that, but my guess is that we’ve tried and tried to protest these kind of police actions peacefully for so long, that eventually people start to think a peaceful ending or resolution would be impossible.”

“That kind of makes sense, I think. I’m sorry if I’m not able to process the information fast enough."

“That’s okay. I just want my dad to get home safe.” Franklin pleaded upwardly.   
“I shouldn’t really be waxing political at you.” He added.

“I don’t mind, though it’d probably be better when I’m awake." Charlie Brown joked.

“Yeah.” Franklin broke a smile for the first time that evening. Just then, he heard a knock on the door.

“Could you hold for a moment? Someone’s at the door. I think it might be dad.”

“Sure.” Charlie Brown listened with trepidation as heard crackly sounds on the other end.

“Dad!” Franklin shouted as he ran up to his father, who was calmly standing at the door while his son wrapped his arms around him. He crouched down to allow Franklin to hug him better, and eventually noticed his mom was waiting, so he let go, and his mom and dad hugged each other.

“What happened?” Franklin asked.

“Oh, there were protestors in the street, so I had to take the long way round, and I got stuck in traffic.”

“Why didn’t you ring?” Franklin’s mom asked.

“If I had my phone out, I daren’t think what would happen if an officer saw me, especially tonight. Sorry about that.”

“No worries, Dad. You’re here now, and that’s what’s important. I’ll let Charlie Brown know you’re safe.”

“Thank you, son.” Franklin’s dad chuckled. Franklin hurried back to his room and picked up the phone again, which was hanging by the cord.

“Dad’s home.” Franklin announced.  
“Oh! That’s great news. What happened to him?” Charlie Brown replied, getting caught by surprise before asking one last question.

“Dad got stuck in traffic.” Franklin answered.

“Well I’m glad he didn’t come to any harm. I guess I should go back to bed. Let me know if you need anything, I’m always happy to help.” Charlie Brown smiled warmly.

“See you soon.” 

“You too, Franklin.” And he hung up. Not long after, Franklin’s dad walked into his room, and crouched to his level.

“What did you talk about?” he asked with a calm and curious expression.

“Oh, I rang him because I was worried you wouldn’t come home. We talked about George Floyd and the protests as well. He has his priorities in the right place."

“Good. I was hoping tomorrow we could do something.”

“What would that be?” Franklin start to feel a little disconcerted.

“I was thinking, tomorrow, I can get a sheet of white tarp from the garden and we can hang a banner on the wall.” Franklin’s dad suggested. 

“Of our garden?” 

“No. the wall you and Charlie Brown used to hang out on before. You can get Charlie Brown to help you with it if you want. It’s a big tarp, so I say you could both work together on it without getting into each other’s personal space." 

“Oh, that one.” Franklin replied. “I get you now. That sounds like a good idea, I’ll let him know I the morning, though. I think he’s gone back to sleep already.

“You should get to sleep too.” Franklin’s dad softly reminded him. “It’s late.”

“I know, dad. See you tomorrow.”

“Night, son.”

“Night, dad.” Franklin replied, as his dad left the room. He got himself ready for bed and then went to sleep, ready for the next day.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this was a comfort to anyone that feels down or troubled during this tough time. I can't offer much to America from the other side of the Atlantic, but I too hope that one day, we, as humans, can heal, and make this better.


End file.
